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Yesterday, John Legend, soft-spoken crooner and America’s boyfriend, launched FREE AMERICA, an initiative dedicated to ending mass incarceration in the United States. Legend broke the news to the Associated Press yesterday, effectively cementing himself in the American consciousness as a genuine Good Guy and earning himself all kinds of righteous karma from the universe.

In addition to visiting and performing at a correctional facility this coming Thursday in Austin, Texas, the Oscar/Grammy Award-winner will also visit a California state prison and co-host a criminal justice event with Politico in Washington, D.C., later this month, which also includes an appearance from Killer Mike.

“I’m just trying to create some more awareness to this issue and trying to make some real change legislatively,” Legend, 36 said.. “And we’re not the only ones. There are senators that are looking at this, like Rand Paul and Cory Booker, there are other nonprofits that are looking at this, and I just wanted to add my voice to that.”

The Grammy-winning singer announced the multiyear initiative, FREE AMERICA, on Monday. He will visit and perform at a correctional facility on Thursday in Austin, Texas, where he also will be part of a press conference with state legislators to discuss Texas’ criminal justice system.

Having a celebrity name attached to a campaign is always a surefire way to get attention. But with a cause as serious as this, there needs to be a different level of commitment in order for the cause and the campaign to be taken seriously. John Legend, with songs like “Glory” and other activism, is showing a passion for this issue and is quickly becoming an authoritative voice surrounding it.

The 36-year-old singer won the Academy Award for his and rapper Common’s song Glory this year and at the Oscars the pair delivered a riveting speech that proved to be a powerful political statement which addressed the United States prison system.

But John isn’t stopping there, as the nine-time Grammy-winning R&B crooner has launched a campaign called FREE AMERICA Monday in an attempt to put an end to the practice of mass incarceration.

Grammy and Oscar-winning singer John Legend is putting his star power to good use yet again by launching a campaign to end mass incarceration. The ever-philanthropic star announced a multi-year initiative, FREE AMERICA, on Monday. For the effort, he will visit and perform at a correctional facility in Austin, Texas on Thursday (Apr. 16). While there, he will be part of a press conference with state legislators to discuss the criminal justice system in Texas.

The All Of Me songwriter has created the Free America drive in a bid to cut down the number of people sent to jail and he is to launch the initiative with a concert at a correctional facility in Austin, Texas on Thursday.

He will also perform at another jail in California later this month and host a political justice event in Washington DC. “We have a serious problem with incarceration in this country,” Legend tells the Associated Press. “It’s destroying families, it’s destroying communities and we’re the most incarcerated country in the world.

At the end of the month, Legend is scheduled to host a #FreeAmerica event in Washington D.C., alongside Politico. According to the Daily Beast, Alison Holcomb, the director of the ACLU’s national campaign to end mass incarceration, or Jill Harris, her deputy director, will join Legend.

“He is definitely out in front on this issue,” Holcomb said of Legend, the Daily Beast reported. “We certainly hope there are other celebrities who will join him.”

The campaign is still in early stages, but Legend already has plans to perform in a correctional facility in Austin, Texas later this week as well as to visit a California state prison and co-host an event with Politico in Washington, D.C. later this month. The campaign will reportedly involve other artists as well.

John Legend has a new project on his plate — and it’s not another album (yet). On April 13, the singer announced his FREE AMERICA campaign to raise awareness about mass incarceration of hundreds of thousands of men and women in American jails.

While John Legend, 36, is hard at work on new music, he’s also tackling another project. The “All Of Me” singer revealed on April 13 that he’s aiming to end the mass incarceration of men and women in American jails with the FREE AMERICA campaign, which will begin with an appearance in Austin, Texas on April 16.